Tourism Grant Program

Any grant of money must be for supporting, increasing, or enhancing tourism in Williams County. The project must be located, or the event must be taking place, outside of the city limits of the City of Williston, but within Williams County.

Eligible applicants can include private non-profit entities, clubs, and organizations; private for-profit corporations, companies; or associations; political subdivisions of the state of North Dakota; or other public or governmental entities. Grant awards will not be made to individuals or applicants that are not registered or licensed to do business in the state of North Dakota if the applicant is required by state law to be registered and/or licensed to conduct its operations, business, and activities. Fiscal agents may be used and must be identified in the application prior to submission. A fiscal agent must be identified on the application if the applicant is not a political subdivision of the state of North Dakota or is not an organization, corporation, company, association, or entity that is registered and in good standing with the North Dakota Secretary of State.

Applicants that have been previously awarded a Williams County Tourism Grant are eligible to re-apply in 2025, but will be given a lower priority than new applicants.

The full list of eligibility criteria is provided below:

• If a public entity, private for-profit entity, or private non-profit entity required by law to have a business license, then the entity must have a business license to conduct its operations in the State of North Dakota
• If an entity is required by law to be registered with the North Dakota Secretary of State’s Office to transact business in the State of North Dakota, then the entity must be duly registered and be in good standing at the time an application is submitted and remain in good standing throughout the term of the grant award, if any, and any reporting period
• If a property owner in Williams County, must be current on real property taxes incurred in Williams County and must be in compliance with applicable Williams County or applicable city zoning ordinances and subdivision regulations, and amendments thereto
• Must be requesting grant funds for costs that have not yet been incurred as of the grant award date
• Must be requesting funds related to tourism in Williams County
• Must be able to enter into written agreement with Williams County, subject to terms and conditions acceptable to Williams County, to receive and expend the funds
• Must complete application in its entirety to be eligible for consideration
• Ability to accept electronic transfers is preferred

• Expenses can be incurred over a multi-year period, subject to approval by the BOCC and as stated in awardee’s written agreement with Williams County.
• Unless otherwise agreed upon by Williams County, any grant funds not requested for reimbursement by December 1, 2025, using a template provided by Williams County, for expenses that were expected to be, or actually, incurred in 2025 will be retained by Williams County and redistributed by the BOCC for tourism purposes in Williams County.
• Extensions for the expense date may be requested in writing by the awardee. An initial 6 month extension can be administratively granted by the Williams County Community Engagement Coordinator as long as the awardee is in compliance with the grant terms stated in the written agreement between Williams County and the awardee. Any additional extension will be presented to the BOCC for consideration. Any extensions granted by the Williams County Community Engagement Coordinator or the BOCC will be documented in the form of a written amendment to the original agreement.
• Grant funds will be disbursed as expenses are incurred on a reimbursable basis, unless otherwise approved by the BOCC and authorized by the written agreement between the grant awardee and Williams County.
• Documentation of an expense, such as a receipt or copy of payment transaction, will be required to receive grant funds.
• Grant funds will be disbursed by Williams County in the same manner as vendors are paid.

Capital Project Grant

• Two Impact Statements are required after the grant is awarded. The first is required within 30 days after the final reimbursement date and a second is due one year after the final reimbursement date. The Impact Statements are intended to explain to the BOCC the impact the project has had on tourism in Williams County. A template will be provided by Williams County.

Events & Advertising Grant

• Within 30 days of the event date or completion of an advertising campaign, the awardee must submit an Impact Statement to the BOCC stating the impact the event or the advertising campaign has had on tourism in Williams County. A template will be provided by Williams County.

Awardee must be compliant with the Impact Statement schedule, the criteria set forth above in submitting an application, as well as the terms of the written agreement between Williams County and the awardee, in order to remain in good standing with the grant award and receive, and continue to receive, reimbursement for expenses.

It is the responsibility of each awardee to determine the impact of a grant award on their finances and tax status. Williams County will provide a 1099-G at the end of each year for the funds disbursed to all awardees other than political subdivisions.

To request a copy of the grant program application in a format other than the online form, please email grants@co.williams.nd.us

1. Administrative Review: The Williams County Community Engagement Coordinator will review each application to ensure its completeness and verify that the basic eligibility requirements are met.
2. Application Dissemination and Committee Review: Eligible and ineligible applications will be forwarded to the Tourism Grant Application Review Committee for an initial review and also to the BOCC. The Tourism Grant Application Review Committee will meet to review and discuss applications.
3. Recommendation: The Tourism Grant Application Review Committee will provide a recommendation of awardees and the amount of funding for each awardee to the BOCC.
4. Final Decision: The BOCC will make the final decision of awardees and amount of funding to each awardee at a regular BOCC Meeting.